Preview: Sumner Academy Sabres vs. Shawnee Heights Thunderbirds
The Sumner Academy Sabres will head out on the road to face off against the Shawnee Heights Thunderbirds at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Sumner Academy will have to bring their A-game into this one, as they are staring down a pretty big deficit in the MaxPreps Kansas Rankings (they are ranked 181st, while Shawnee Heights is ranked 43rd).
After soaring to 31 points the game before, Sumner Academy were a bit more limited in their contest on Friday. They were dealt a 41-6 defeat at the hands of Lincoln College Prep. Sumner Academy's loss signaled the end of their four-game winning streak.
Meanwhile, Shawnee Heights can now show off three landslide victories after their most recent game on Friday. They blew past Leavenworth 47-7 on the road. Winning may never get old, but Shawnee Heights sure are getting used to it with their third in a row.
Shawnee Heights relied on the efforts of Ryeki Tuley, who threw for 242 yards and three touchdowns while completing 78.3% of his passes, and Allen Baughman, who rushed for 129 yards and two touchdowns. Shawnee Heights also got help from Jacob Malcom who showed off his sure hands for 98 receiving yards.
Shawnee Heights' defense stepped up as well, laying out the QB five times. The heavy lifting was done by Alex Dawkins and Jaki Lee who racked up four sacks between them.
Sumner Academy's defeat dropped their record down to 4-4. As for Shawnee Heights, their win was their third straight on the road, which bumped their overall record up to 6-2.
Sumner Academy was dealt a bruising 34-0 loss at the hands of Shawnee Heights when the teams last played back in October of 2021. Thankfully for Sumner Academy, Jarin Sanders (who rushed for 164 yards and three touchdowns while picking up 7.8 yards per carry) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.
